You would have thought that the unprecedented backlash against both SOPA and PIPA would have resulted in the entertainment industry learning something about shoving bad laws down the throat of the country -- but apparently not. MPAA boss and former Congressman Chris Dodd this week told Hollywood Reporter that there are backroom conversations occurring among a small number of people, and that "between now and sometime next year," Hollywood and the tech industry will "come to an understanding."

Of course as Techdirt notes, one of SOPA's biggest problem was that it was hashed out in secret with nobody at any level (including government) considering independent expert insight or caring what the public thought. So obviously the solution is more back room dealing, right? Masnick puts it quite concisely:

quote:Yes, you know why it would be "counterproductive" to go into more detail? Because he knows damn well that the problem with SOPA was that it was negotiated in the backrooms with private parties and no participation from the actual stakeholders: the public. So, yes, admitting that you're doing the same thing all over again would be counterproductive. You know what would be productive? Stopping this political backroom dealing crap, and finally coming out and having a public discussion. But he won't do it, because Dodd is a coward and a DC-insider who only knows how to cut deals, not how to actually respond to the public's best interests.

Masnick at Techdirt continues to note Dodd also hasn't learned much about lying and inflating numbers to try and make his point -- continuing to bandy around claims that Hollywood employs some 2.2 million people -- when it's really closer to around 400,000. Dodd also likes to claim Hollywood's losing jobs when in reality they're growing -- just not in theater chains where mergers and consolidation are killing employment numbers.

Re: Ex-Congressman

Any of my congress-critters support Dodd in any way, shape or form will be losing my vote forever and I will be actively lobbying my family, friends & acquaintances to follow my lead.

Same here. When PIPA/SOPA were being "debated", I sent letters to both of my senators via their web sites stating the same (support PIPA = lose my vote). Thankfully, my rep never supported SOPA.--Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies...A MESSAGE to the RIAA and the MPAA: You shouldn't wound what you can't kill...

Public interest

quote:Dodd is a coward and a DC-insider who only knows how to cut deals, not how to actually respond to the public's best interests.

Frankly, the public's best interest is not Dodd's concern. The MPAA's members and their interests are ultimately Dodd's concerns.

The public's best interest, as well as the best interests of industries in general and corporations specifically, are the concerns of the congresscritters in DC. They are the ones that have to play the balancing game.

Arrogance of politicans..

While Dodd is a former politician (thankfully), his actions highlights a troubling and major issue that the American people are facing: Arrogance from politicians who only care about their own interests.-- CheckSite.us | YourIP.us | Reverseip.us

What's To Teach?

Blaming Chris Dodd misses the real point. As long as elected officials continue to sell privileged access to the legislative process, there will always be entities interested in purchasing such access.

SOPA sucks, but the problem lays mainly with the Senators and Representatives who see nothing wrong in taking bribes.--"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service.

Re: Online Piracy is High Tech Shoplifting

I don't think anyone is really arguing about copyright infringement. The bills being put forth in Congress are over reaching and will slap people who did not do anything wrong, plus the MPAA/RIAA will determine who infringes and not law enforcement. Now they have to defend themselves for no reason all the while MPAA/RIAA makes a buck off innocence people. The bills are bad for the citizens and that is what concerns a lot of people.

um no?its more like going in to an art store and take a picture of a panting and then putting that picture on your wallnothing was taken the original is still for sale

and DRM does nothing to stop people and only hurts people that actually pay for it see gaming

you need to read this from the owner of Valve he gets it you dont»www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ··· -Problem"We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem,"

I think instead of censoring the web in response to industry (RIAA & MPAA) bribery, we should develop better methods to expose and jail those who profoundly corrupt the legislative process in the pursuit of enriching their own wealth and power.--The Dark Tower's Skynet evolves from 4chan.

You are kidding, right? Been there, done that. Most if not all the DRM so far has been defeated. On top of that, some particularly pesky DRM schemes such as the ones that install rootkits/malware on customers' machines have actually driven paying customers to piracy. I tend to agree with those. If I have paid for something, I shouldn't have to prove time and time again that I am a legitimate user. If they are going to treat people like thieves, the people might as well act as such.--Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies...A MESSAGE to the RIAA and the MPAA: You shouldn't wound what you can't kill...

I am not a big fan of our current elected officials either. I live in Massachusetts, which has one of the most corrupt state governments in the whole USA. What I am trying to say is I am an ethical person who has never taken anything in my life that does not belong to me. Also, I have downloaded over $500 of content on iTunes alone and that is just iTunes. Not to mention the hundreds of dollars I've spent on cassettes and CDs before iTunes came around.

As for SOPA and PIPA, I hope they are declared unconstitutional if passed but I think the free market should develop solutions to the problems of piracy. They have done so with counterfeit concert tickets by now scanning them before you enter the venue. Counterfeit tickets were a big issue for concerts until technology (developed by free market) solved the problem.

As for my content, I pay for it. There are legal ways to obtain copyrighted content for free, just visit your local public library. I used to borrow movies all the time as a kid back in the '90s from the local library. I don't watch movies that much anymore but I do listen to a lot of music. Green Day, Smash Mouth, and the Offspring are some of my favorite artists and those artists don't work for free. I even downloaded "Weird Al"s song Don't Download This Song on iTunes.--All of my CPE (including my EMTA) is customer owned. The only Comcast owned equipment in my house is the CableCards in the two TiVO boxes I own.

5 minutes later it will be cracked. It's a losing battle. Eliminate copy protection, stupid licenses, and bring the prices down to a very reasonable level.

It won't stop piracy, nothing will, but it'll dampen it.--No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake.......

I compare piracy to stealing. It's like going into a Best Buy/Target/Walmart and taking a CD or DVD,

Yeah, right. In the same way complaining about the Government compares to Terrorism against the Country.--"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini

Election Year

On the bright side, this is an election year so I doubt any congress-critters, while stupid, are not THAT stupid to bring it up before November. Come January 2013, all bets are off.--I support the right to keep and arm bears.

...

When will Hollywood learn to bring US (the consumers and users of the Internet) to the table and be part of the solution instead of being the problem ? Until that happens - any bill that Hollywood wants should be DOA, IMO.

Re: Reliable source

I fail to see the issue what the issue with Mike Masnick is, he has a blog he reports on Copyright from a consumer perspective.

Copyright maximalists quote liberally from Chris Castle's blog (www.musictechpolicy.com) and somehow his perspective on copyright gets passed off as truth all the time.

Chuckles indeed.--I'm watching District 9 again, and I've come to realize something: Wikus's got it all wrong. If I were morphing into a 9 foot tall hyper-dextrous alien that can shoot lightning bolts and get high off cat food why would I ever want to become human again?

Re: Reliable source

negotiated in the backrooms with private parties and no participation from the actual stakeholders: the public.

The public is only one stakeholder of several, not THE stakeholder.

Karl's quote said "actual stakeholders".It was you who said "THE stakeholder".

The folks who create legislation are ethically bound to serve only constituents. Those constituents are actual stakeholders.

A corporation isn't entitled to a stake in legislation.Purchasing legislative favors from elected officials doesn't alter that.

Even so; corporations continue to confuse their interest in legislation, with a right to have legislation that serves them.Many voters and legislators are similarly confused.--The Dark Tower's Skynet evolves from 4chan.

can you say evil?

No, Not Evil

Crooked certainly, corrupt maybe, but evil? No. I think one of America's worst problems is that many people regard those with agendas they do not agree with as evil. It doesn't leave much room for honest deal-making, which leaves only the dishonest deal-making!

We need to start electing Administrators to run the country, and let them hire Faces and Heels to deal with the media. Right now it's the other way around!